Not only is packaging an indispensable ingredient in the successful marketing of most products, but the nature of the packages employed frequently has an important influence on the products' sale. For instance, to an important degree, some products rely on the appearance of the packaged product to attract the eye of prospective purchases, while still others require the packages in which they are enclosed to have functional features which interact with the product during use. Packages with pouring spouts integrated therein are an example of the latter type. Still other forms of packages promote the handling of the product during the sale transaction, as for instance, awkwardly or irregularly shaped articles which are to be manipulated during the sale by mechanical devices, such as vending machines.
As important as the nature of the packaging used, however, is the packaging cost entailed, including that resulting from the effort involved in placing the product in the package.
While it sometimes happens that the product being sold is so expensive that the cost of packaging is immaterial in the overall economics of the sale transaction, and although in other instances, the proper and necessary functioning of the package outweighs cost considerations, as a general rule, package cost as well as package functionality, are normally both important, and product marketers attempt to find the least expensive package capable of meeting the other requirements for profitable sale of their products.
Unfortunately, in the case of relatively low-cost products which require point-of-sale packaging functionality, such as the ability to be processed mechanically by coin operated vending machines, package selection is oftentimes difficult. In such cases it is necessary that irregularly shaped articles be enclosed in a geometrically uniform package to facilitate handling by machinery capable only of standardized motion. In addition, the package must meet specified parameters of procurement and insertion costs, as well as other requirements.